The year was 2010, and plastic instrument awesomeness is at an unprecedented height! Guitar Hero: WARRIORS OF ROCK is coming to MELT YOUR FACE AND FINGERS, while Rock Band 3 is coming in with REAL NON-FAKE NON-PLASTIC INSTRUMENTS to finally teach us how to connect with the music in ways we’ve only dreamed (and to silence the trolls!)

Joining us on this podcast is:

Dan Amrich from OneofSwords.com
Jordan Dodge from that magical place called Activision
Joe Rybicki from PlasticAxe.com
Tommy Wall from RockBandAide.com
Mystakin from YouTube (but not really from YouTube)
AnimeCow aka Dylan

and of course, your favorite Starpower hosts, toymachine and FrankieB.

We talk about many things on this podcast so here is the list breakdown:

2:45 – Guest Introductions
6:31 – ScoreHero News
13:01 – Green Day Rock Band
24:53 – Rock Band Twitter be TROLLIN
34:00 – E3 2010 Discussion
58:27 – Total Rock Total Rewards 2010 Discussion
1:09:17 – Frankie’s Ice Cream
1:12:42 – GH DLC Discussion with Dan Amrich
1:17:15 – Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Soundtrack
1:31:36 – Rock Band 3 Soundtrack
1:41:26 – General Discussion & Shoutouts

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Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes!

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You know how we do.

toymachine and andpop bring  you exclusive footage of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock including THREE full guitar/bass charts of “What Do I Get” by The Buzzcocks, “Bat Country” by Avenged Sevenfold, and finally the beast of guitar shreddery “Sudden Death” by Megadeth.

ENJOY!

and hope you like the surprise at the end.

this video is made possible by

andpop.com – “popculture with substance”.

It was the winter of 1994, and yours truly was a far stretch from the handsome beast that I am today. It was not uncommon to see me with overgrown, curly brown hair, thick funny glasses, extremely tight jeans and those ridiculous velcro strap sneakers that, lets be honest, none of us really liked to begin with. I was awkward, shy, obese, depressed, constantly teased by girls and boys alike and above all, angry that I seemingly had no control over anything in my life, angry that nothing would change, that I would never be “cool” or have any friends or be of any worth to society. Being ignored, left out and feeling like I was insane was something of a daily occurance at that time in my life.

Quite often I would ride the bus and hear other boys talk about their favorite bands and songs. Names like Bush, Pearl Jam and Nirvana got tossed around frequently, but I really didn’t relate to anything that they were saying because I didn’t listen to music. The only thing music related I owned was a New Kids On The Block cassette tape my cousin Nancy bought for me because I might or might have not liked one of their songs. I decided during this time that I was going to tune into that MTV channel on TV the other kids talked about and find a band that I liked.

I must have sat in front of that damn television for weeks and to be honest, there wasn’t really anything that intrigued me. And then one day, a video with three really crazy looking guys rocking out in a mental institution caught my immediate attention.

That music video was Basket Case by Green Day.

Up until that point, there was literally no music that had resonated with me. I would listen to whatever was on the radio, only to fill the empty silence of my bedroom with what I considered at the time, incessant noise. But for some reason at the time, the lyrics and words from Basket Case went directly into my heart, mind and soul. For some strange reason I didn’t feel like the only loser in America anymore. To a certain degree, I felt as if this song had been written for me specifically to get over what I was going through and figure out a way to cope with life in general. Whether or not that immediately worked out is a different story, but at the time it helped tremendously.

Shortly thereafter, I started to pay attention to music a bit more closely. I was soon introduced to Longview and Welcome to Paradise, both on MTV and my local radio station, also songs that shook the foundations of my life and reality. That was when I decided that, although I felt really embarassed about it for some strange reason, I was going to actually go buy music. I scrounged up the only $4 that I had and snuck into my cousin Nancy’s room and spilled her gigantic water cooler bottle of change onto the floor, stealing as many quarters as I could (sorry Nan lol) to pay for the first album I would ever buy in my life, Dookie.

I rode my bike back home as fast as I possibly could and spent the next few days doing nothing but listening to and memorizing every single song on that album.

The years that follwed were rocky, troublesome and full of horrible mistakes and harsh learning experiences. Green Day’s Insomniac came out during a point where I was still trying to come to grips with who I was as a teenager, where I wanted to go and what I wanted to be in life. Many of the things I strove for falled flat in my face, which only contributed to my already growing frustration being a human being and playing the cards that were dealt to me. Songs like Stuck With Me, Geek Stink Breath, No Pride, Brain Stew, Panic Song, Jaded and especially Walking Contradiction were all songs I would listen to and wonder what the hell I was doing to myself, my family and my friends.

Fast forward to 1999. I was living in a group home on Long Island, learning to become a man, to forgive myself and learn from my past mistakes. Green Day’s Nimrod finally got into my hands and at the time, many of my friends whom were Green Day fans before, did not appreciate the new album. I, on the other hand, fell in love all over again. I was a teenager that had no luck with women, I felt stuck in my current situation and even more powerless than ever before, my mind was always constantly racing and worrying about the future. I felt alone. I felt like, people would be better off if they didn’t have to deal with me or my bullshit. My favorite songs from this era of my life was Nice Guys Finish Last, Redundant, Prosthetic Head, Worry Rock, Jinx, Haushinka, Walking Alone, Reject, Take Back and Good Riddance (Time of Your Life). Between Dookie, Insomniac and especially Nimrod, I managed to keep it together and keep my head afloat long enough to learn and mature as I went on. I got through and was well on my way to adulthood.

Although I completely skipped over Warning, aside from the only singles to make it to the radio, I didn’t give up on my favorite band of all time.

Now a man, college student, aspiring graphic artist and web designer, things in life were starting to come together. Almost all of my previous issues and transgressions I had in life personally with myself had either disappeared or evolved into typical adult whines, groans and moans. American Idiot dropped in 2004 and at first, I was not really impressed with the album except for Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends. I eventually got my hands on the entire album and started to do what I had with all of my previous Green Day albums, and that was sit down and listen to it all the way through, over and over again. To this day, Jesus of Surburbia is without a doubt one of my favorite songs of all time and the one Green Day song I had always hoped would show up in either of my beloved plastic instrument franchises. Are We The Waiting, Holiday, American Idiot, Give Me Novacaine, St. Jimmi and Whatshername quickly entered into my Green Day playlists.

This brings us to 21st Century Breakdown, another Green Day album that took some time to grow on me. I will say this to you, with Harmonix releasing the 6 current songs as DLC for Rock Band 2, that process got sped up very quickly. ¡Viva La Gloria!, 21 Guns, Before the Lobotomy, East Jesus Nowhere, Know Your Enemy, Last of the American Girls, Peacemaker, Song of the Century and Viva La Gloria (Little Girl) have joined the ranks as my favorite Green Day songs of all time.

While Green Day isn’t the only band that has contributed in shaping me into the Wall of Awesome that I am today, they have without a doubt been the pioneers of the change that is me.

Between Guitar Hero and Rock Band, my life has been a whirlwind of greatness. The things that has happened to me as a result of these games, the people I have met, the places I have been, the lessons I have learned, have all taken me down a path that I look back upon and smile at.

Today is one of the happiest days of my life.

I really don’t know how else to express how much gratitude, love, admiration and respect I have for Green Day and Harmonix at this moment, along with whomever else was involved in making them who THEY are, whomever else was involved in making this game come to light and actually exist in my hands. I have never, EVER, in my life been emotional over a video game and I have cried more today than I have in a very long time. I don’t feel any shame, and I sure as hell won’t apologize.

So with that, I say to all of you, fans, friends and family, developers and designers, and especially Green Day, thank you. For everything.

And if you already haven’t, GO FUCKING BUY GREEN DAY: ROCK BAND. NOW.

-FrankieB

ALL HAIL TO THOSE WHO DRUM CIRCLES!

They deal with broken notes, broken note counts, timing window glitches, yet they still strive on. This episode is all about drummin circles and subjecting your ankles to the tortures of double bass.

Joining us on this podcast is:

Legslikepistonz – A Very Recognizable X+ Player on Youtube
ccmoose – owner of 4 Expert Drum FGFCs
Bendover – way too good at EVERYTHING
Kingsy – The King of GH DLC

We talk mostly about GH Drums but you know us, we love to get sidetracked.

A Certain host shows up to announce something perhaps?

Oh yeah lot’s of our information is out of date by now so don’t chop our heads off.

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Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes!

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“No time to search the world around / cus ya know where I’ll be found”

Playing Green Day: Rock Band obv.

Big surprise today as Entertainment Weekly revealed the full setlist which seems to be organized by albums within three separate venues. The setlist for this game was a pretty much no-brainer but aside from the negated “Walking Contradiction” this is probably the best band-centric setlist since “Guitar Hero: Metallica” (/flame shield up)

Check out the full setlist after the break!

Green Day: Rock Band track list

The Warehouse

Dookie (1994)
“Burnout”
“Having a Blast”
“Chump”
“Longview”
“Welcome to Paradise”
“Pulling Teeth”
“Basket Case”
“She”
“Sassafrass Roots”
“When I Come Around”
“Coming Clean”
“Emenius Sleepus”
“In the End”
“F.O.D.”

Milton Keynes

American Idiot (2004)
“American Idiot”
“Jesus of Suburbia”
“Holiday”
“Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
“Are We the Waiting”
“St. Jimmy”
“Give Me Novacaine”
“She’s a Rebel”
“Extraordinary Girl”
“Letterbomb”
“Wake Me Up When September Ends”
“Homecoming”
“Whatsername”

Warning (2000)
“Minority”
“Warning”

Nimrod (1997)
“Hitchin’ a Ride”
“Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”
“Nice Guys Finish Last”

Insomniac (1995)
“Brain Stew”
“Jaded”
“Geek Stink Breath”

The Fox Theater, Oakland

21st Century Breakdown(2009)
“Song of the Century”
“21st Century Breakdown”
“Before the Lobotomy”
“Last Night on Earth”
“Peacemaker”
“Murder City”
“¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)”
“Restless Heart Syndrome”
“Horseshoes and Handgrenades”
“The Static Age”
“American Eulogy”
“See the Light”

Downloadable Content (not included)

“21 Guns”
“Know Your Enemy”
“East Jesus Nowhere”
“Last of the American Girls”
“¡Viva La Gloria!”
“Christian’s Inferno”

Thanks to RockBandAide for the heads up!

Somewhere out there, FrankieB is jumping for joy and crying his eyes out. His prayers have finally been answered.

Harmonix finally decided to grace us with some more information regarding (Frankie’s beloved) Green Day: Rock Band video game, now officially slated as being released on June 8th, 2010 in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and whatever “other territories” means on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii.

Some of the initial songs that have been announced are “Brain Stew,” “Jaded,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “American Idiot,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” with “Brain Stew/Jaded” appearing as one single track as it sounds on the album Insomniac.

All of the vocal harmonies we’ve come to love that we were introduced to in The Beatles: Rock Band will make an appearance in Green Day: Rock Band. Not to mention, the ability to export the entire disc of Green Day songs to your hard drive to be played in Rock Band 2 and hopefully, Rock Band 3 later this year.

There is also reportedly another version of the game, called Green Day: Rock Band Plus, which includes the 6 DLC tracks that have been released thus far on Rock Band 2 and a code to export the disc to your hard drive, which apparently we will have to pay for otherwise. Preordering this disc through GameStop will net you the export code automatically. Great success!

Harmonix’s Official Green Day: Rock Band Announcement

Official Cover Art for Green Day: Rock Band (stolen from RockBandAide.com)

The Harmonix crew performing American Idiot on Green Day: Rock Band

A sudden blast of messages Tweeted today by the likes of various Harmonix employees have confirmed what just about every single one of us was expecting. Rock Band 3 is real and is coming this 2010 holiday season.

Originally Posted by Deliciousbees
BAM! Philippe Dauman announces Rock Band 3 for this year. Finally, I can tell people what I’ve been lead designing.

Originally Posted by johntdrake
VIacom CEO and President Philippe Dauman has confirmed that Harmonix is working on Rock Band 3, for release Holiday 2010! WOOO!

Originally Posted by HMXhenry
1) Yes, RB3 is a thing. 2) Yes, HMX is working on it. 3) Yes, it will be awesome.

Harmonix has recently opened up the Rock Band Network, which allows just about anyone in the world to put their crappy band up for sale on Rock Band 2.

Will Rock Band 3 support the Rock Band Network? Will every single one of our songs we’ve purchased follow to the next game? You bet your sweet ass it will (and if it doesn’t we are busting some skulls).

Official announcements coming soon.

Looks like someone isn’t very happy about people having fun with plastic instruments.

Let’s show how much we appreciate Lorne’s contribution by commenting and making customs of his song to play on our plastic instruments.

Irony at it’s finest.

Feel like ranting about some crappy DLC? Does the thought of *insert band here*: Rock Band/Guitar Hero make you want to rip your face off your face? Did Frankie or toymachine say something that makes you laugh/cry/vomit/angry? Do you have questions for your favorite Starpower host? Whatever it may be, feel free to give us a call and maybe YOUR voice will be featured on the next episode of Starpower Podcast!!!

HO HO HOOOOO!!!! Merrrrrrrrrrry Christmas! The end of 2009 has finally arrived and Starpower Podcast wants to celebrate with Holiday Bullshit PART DEUX!

With really nothing in particular to talk about, join main hosts John, Elliott, Frankie and Rob as we call some of our friends and reflect a bit on 2009 and a bit on to 2010.

Topics Discussed:

ScoreHero News
Vixenita calls to say hello
Frankie’s birthday party discussion w/ joerod and DevilMayAsian
Chris Vance takes a break from WoW to bless us with his presence
GearsOfWarCRAZY drops some hilarious Starpower exclusive bombs!
Phr34k joins us and tells us a little bit about Rhythm Authors
Green Day: Rock Band reveal and discussion
SArmstr0ng joins the podcast!
Brief call with MDCLXX
Holiday Bullshit Part 1 (random topics)
Holiday Bullshit Part 2 (more random topics)
Outro’s w/ some singing from our very own No1ButU

All of us here at Starpower Podcast want to wish you, our loyal listeners and fellow brothers and sisters of ScoreHero and plastic instrument games a VERY Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Festivus, etc., etc.! We love all of you and hope your day is splendidly awesome!

Download The Episode!

Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes!

(Episode will be available on RSS feeds within 24 hours of website availability- if it’s not up yet, feel free to download the mp3 direct via the link above this one.)